Armour Strong as Iron—Or Gold Titanium Alloy
by Venstre
Summary: She takes some sort of pride in knowing that she's the only one that can see him like this. Stripped of the sarcastic, charismatic shields that he never takes off, and exposed as the human being he really is. Tony/Pepper, one-shot.


**Title**: Armour Strong as Iron (Or Gold-Titanium Alloy)  
**Description**: She takes some sort of pride in knowing that she's the only one that can see him like this. Stripped of the sarcastic, charismatic shields that he never takes off, and exposed as the human being he really is. Tony/Pepper, one-shot.  
**Pairing(s)**: Tony/Pepper  
**Word Count**: 1,603  
**Notes**: Okay I just love this pairing so much, and I haven't really been given a muse until the Avengers. They're my otp guys can you tell

Once again, no plot, just fluff. And feels and angst and gosh why do I make Tony into such a big baby I just don't know? Maybe because tough guy exterior aside he was friggin' _tortured _in the first Iron Man and I don't think that anyone can get over that quite as well as they lead us to believe. It's also kind of fun fleshing him out, making him human and relatable and stuff.

* * *

There are many things Tony is not.

Mind you, there are many things he_ is_ as well, but Pepper's fairly sure the former would have a longer lost.

He's egotistical, he's moody, he's deceptive, and he's a brat. But he's not a coward, and he's not selfish. Pepper can remember one time when he was, just riding out his days not doing much other than tinkering with anything electronic. Since then, however, he's matured. Grown as a person, learned to care for people other than himself.

These traits were learned, slowly and through experience. Modestly, however, hit Tony so suddenly and so forcefully that even now he still struggles.

Everything has been quiet in the lab for a few hours now, which worries Pepper. And it worries her that something as simple as silence worries her. She thinks that Bruce might be with him, but he's out of the country, and they don't tend to be very quiet either. Hell, last time he was there, they nearly collapsed the entire house down on their heads.

Bruce has since learned that no, despite what Tony says, there are some things that should_ not _be tested inside. Lasers and flash cannons are two of those things—especially when they're _combined_.

Shaking her head slightly and hastily throwing together a coffee from the machine he made especially for her last week, Pepper cautions her way down the stairs. To her relief there is no broken glass, no smell of smoke, and nothing else to forewarn her of something gone wrong.

Tony is seated in his chair, his head tilted downwards slightly and his hands at his sides. He's completely still as if asleep, but his eyes are open. She can see even though his back is to her. For a second Pepper panics, until she sees that the arc reactor is still emitting a light blue glow through his shirt.

She walks around until she's right in front of him, kneeling with one hand on his knee and the other reaching to cradle his face. Recognition sparks in his features almost immediately as he's pulled back to the present. With a sigh, he closes his eyes and presses his face into her hand.

"Tony," Pepper murmurs, reaching up her other hand to hold the other side of his face. "Tony."

He still doesn't open his eyes. Instead he shuts them tighter, reaching up his hands to clasp Pepper's firmer to his head.

Despite the confident, stony exterior he wears, Pepper knows better. She's seen him like this far too many times to buy his excuses much more.

"Tony."

Finally she gets a response, as his dark eyes open once more and focus on her. She smiles, brushing her thumb over his cheek, as she feels the pain she can see in his face break her heart.

"It's okay," she murmurs, leaning up to kiss him. "You're here. Nothing bad is going to happen."

She knows her words process in his head. They make their way through that brain that will never make sense to her, carefully considered and rolled over and over in his mind. Brushing his cheek with one thumb again, she tilts her head to the side ever so slightly, waiting for him to speak.

He doesn't always. Sometimes they sit like that until Pepper's knees are sore, and she stands to come sit in his lap instead until his episode is over.

Her hands on his head hold it above the water, her face before his fills his vision with something other than the dark of the cave. Letting her hand travel down, tracing a tendon in his neck and finally resting on the arc reactor in his chest, feeling the smooth skin around it no longer poisoned with palladium. "Tony," she repeats. "You're here in your shop. It's fine, you're okay."

Reaching down to clutch her hand, the one still resting against his chest, his eyes flicker down and then back to her face. A ghost of a smile flitters across his face and Pepper feels a spark of hope. "Yeah," he tells her. "I've woken up in worse places, though. I'm sure you can vouch for me there."

With a laugh, Pepper reaches up to kiss him. Although his tone and words are light, Pepper can see the conflict roiling in his features. The still-present fear, the way his smile seems to stay contained to his lips rather than brightening up his entire face. "That I can," she finally replies, getting her feet under her to rise off her knees. "Come upstairs. You've been down here all day."

Tony rolls his eyes, and Pepper notices that his hand shakes as soon as he takes it away from her. "I _like it_ down here," he whines. "I'm thinking about moving in."

"You already _have_," Pepper corrects him with an amused grin. "You spend more time there than you do anywhere else. No matter what you think, you _do _need a good sleep every once and a while."

She fixes him with a stern glare before he can make another immature remark, and he crosses his arms. "Well that doesn't seem very fun."

Pepper doesn't even dignify that with a response, opting to give him another look instead, and holds his hand as she all but drags him up the stairs.

As she sets the machine to make some more coffee—the other stuff has gone cold—and paws around in the fridge to find something to make, he walks up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. A smile appears on her face as she feels him bury his face into her neck, appreciating her for just being there and being _real_ and keeping him sane.

Leaning her head slightly against the top of his and clasping his hands in hers, Pepper abandons her search to indulge him. Should anyone walk in Tony would leap back, acting as if nothing had happened, and Pepper would try without much success to stifle her laughter. It's happened before. But they're alone, and there _isn't_ anyone except them in the top few levels of the Tower, so she needn't worry.

"Tony, you need to eat," she finally tells him, gently trying to pry off his hands.

There's a grunt, and Tony's shaking his head like a three-year-old would. "No I don't," he retorts. "I don't _want_ to eat. I just want to stay like this."

Pepper rolls her eyes. "You're going to eat if I have to force-feed it to you."

He makes a face against her back, and finally lets go. Giving him another quick kiss—he looks pretty dejected—Pepper finds some leftover Thai in the fridge to heat up for him.

At first he just scowls at it, whining about how he wants to be back down in the shop. He does this to egg Pepper on, for the sole reason of getting a reaction out of her. And she always falls for it. Finally she stomps over, standing above him and glaring at him with indignation, and he's grinning like its Christmas and he scarfs the whole thing down.

She's going to get mad at him, because he _always does this_, but he looks so happy and proud of himself that Pepper feels any anger she might have had go away.

When she pulls him back to the bedroom to convince him to actually get some sleep, he curls himself around her so tightly it's as if he thinks something could happen to her during the hours of the night. His arms wrap around her chest and his legs twine with hers, face pressed against the top of her head and his hands fiddling with her shirt.

The arc reactor's glow is almost extinguished as it presses against her back, hidden between her shoulder blades. The folds of her shirt covers any stray light that might be peeking out, and with a small smile, Pepper weaves her fingers through his.

"Sleep is boring," Tony mumbles against her neck.

"You're boring. Go to sleep," she tells him.

"That was rude." He shifts his body so his forehead rests on her shoulders, leaving his head tucked in against himself like he's some kind of cat. Which, at times, Pepper swears he is.

"I'll get Rhodey to come and talk some sense to you. Or maybe Fury. Who would you rather?"

There's a scowl and a snort of umbrage, and Tony lets out a sigh. "You're no fun."

Pepper rolls her eyes, and shuffles a little closer (she didn't think it was quite possible to do so, but apparently it was.) "There's nothing in my contract that says I have to be fun."

With a groan, Tony rolls his head back. "Ugh, don't bring up work while we're like this."

Pepper just laughs at him.

Placing a kiss behind her ear, Tony lets out a sigh. "Fun or not, I still love you."

"I know," Pepper replies with a small smile.

There's a couple seconds of hesitation, where Tony seems to be hovering by Pepper's ear, before he huffs out a breath and frowns. "And?"

He's not the only one that can play games, Pepper reflects. "And I love you too." That seems to satisfy him, and he settles down once more. "But you still need to sleep. Big day tomorrow."

"Don't remind me," Tony sighs.

"That's my job."

"What did I _just_ say?"

Another small chuckle, and Pepper gives his arm a reassuring squeeze.

He sighs again, this time with content. "'Night, Pepper."

"Good night, Tony."


End file.
